From AOL NEWS: Metal Balls Fall on South Africa .c The Associated Press JOHANNESBURG, South Africa (AP) - For a while, it seemed as if some strange meteorological phenomenon was hitting South Africa. A metal ball fell from the sky Thursday onto a farm near Worcester, 45 miles east of Cape Town, leaving an 8-inch dent in the ground. On Friday, another ball a yard wide plummeted from the sky onto a farm in Durbanville, just outside Cape Town. ``We heard the sound of crackling thunder, yet there were no clouds,'' said Philip Schew, a tenant farmer near Worcester. NASA scientists said the balls were garbage from a Delta rocket launched in 1996. The balls had been expected to land somewhere in southern Africa. Nick Johnson, who is in charge of orbital debris for NASA, said space garbage re-enters the Earth's atmosphere almost every day, landing mostly in the ocean. ``Although no one had been hurt by these objects in the last 40 years, the U.S. government would compensate anyone who is struck by the objects,'' Johnson was quoted as telling South Africa's 702 radio station. AP-NY-05-02-00 1318EDT Copyright 2000 The Associated Press. The information contained in the AP news report may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or otherwise distributed without the prior written authority of The Associated Press. All active hyperlinks have been inserted by AOL. ----------------------------------------------------------------- Unsubscribe from SeeSat-L by sending a message with 'unsubscribe' in the SUBJECT to SeeSat-L-request@lists.satellite.eu.org http://www2.satellite.eu.org/seesat/seesatindex.html
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